Apparatus for folding the ends of a fabric band over the end shoulders of a tire building drum



Aug. 26, 1952 w. J. BRETH 2,608,497

APPARATUS FOR FOLDING THE ENDS OF A FABRIC BAND OVER THE END SHOULDERS OF A TIRE BUILDING DRUM Original Filed June 14, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WALTER J. BRETH BY am we ATTORNEYS INVENTOR WALTER J.;BRETH1 ATTORNEYS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 W. J. BRETH APPARATUS FOR FOLDING THE ENDS OF A FABRIC BAND OVER THE. END SHOULDERS OF A TIRE BUILDING DRUM MN QM Original Filed June 14, 1944 Aug. 26, 1952 w. J. BRETH 2,608,497

APPARATUS FOR FOLDING THE ENDS OF A FABRIC BAND OVER THE END SHOULDERS OF A TIRE BUILDING DRUM Original Filed June 14, 1944 4 S eets-S 3 (0 m D G 9 Q &" 0 \u l I Q I t I I Q c f ATTORNEYS BY fund/w f Aug. 26, 1952 W. J. BRET APPARATUS FOR FOLDING THE ENDS OF A FABRIC BAND OVER THE END SHOULDERS OF A TIRE BUILDING DRUM Original Filed June 14, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4- INVENTOR WALTER J. BRETH ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 26, 1952 FABRIC BAND OVER THE END SHOULDERS OF A TIRE BUILDING DRUM Walter J. Breth, Akron, Ohio, assignor to The General Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Original application June 14,1944, Serial No. 540,306, now Patent No. 2,455,038, dated No!- vember 30, 1948. Divided and this application August 21, 1947, Serial No. 769,862

6 Claims. (01. 154-9) This invention relates to an apparatus for foldlngthe ends of a fabric band radially inwardlyover the end shoulders of a tire building drumQand is a division of my copending application Serial No. 540,306, filed June 14, 1944, now Patent No. 2,455,033, November 30, 1948. The, method herein disclosed of folding the ends of a fabricband radially inwardly over the end shoulders of a tire building drum is claimed in my pendingapplication Serial No. 205,901, filed J anuary13, 1951.

flfhe'invention has for its object to provide a folding} mechanism that exteriorly engages the edge of a fabric band that projects beyond the end of a drum simultaneously throughout the circumference of the band, and that is capable of being contracted upon the band to instantaneously form an inwardly folded fabric flange overlying an end shoulder of the drum.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a fabric folding mechanism of the character referred to which is, so constructed that 'it can be conveniently usedin a tire building machine of the type in which a series of successively operated mechanisms are employed to perform successive tire building operations.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention may be said to comprise the apparatus and method as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the appended claims, together with suchvariations and modifications thereof as willbe apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

@Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which: i 1

Figure 1 is'a side elevation of a tire building machine in which the invention is embodied;

Fig.2 is a top plan viewof one end of the machine: A r r Fig. 3 is a vertical axial section through mechanism shown in Fig. 2';

4 is a fragmentarysection taken on the lineindicated'atL-A in Fig. 3; and

Figsfi and6 arefragmentary, vertical, axial sections on an enlarged scale, illustrating the operation of thefolding device of the present invention. =}'Fi gJ}5 shows in dotted lines the original retractedand castrated position of the fabric folding-"ring, andfin full lines: shows the ring expanded to adiametefgieater than that of the drum. Fig/dshowsfthefabric folding ring in dotted lines moved jaiciallyff inwardly from the position sh'own' in to' l a position overlying the .2 a the projecting edge of the fabric band D,-and in full lines shows the ring contracted. and-the fabric folded over the end of the drum.

The tire building machine in which the device of the present invention has been employed consists of a centrally disposed, collapsible tire building drum A which may be of the usual and conventional construction, a stationary bead building head B and a movable bead building head C, which serve to apply the bead ringsto fabric at the ends of the drum and to shape the bead portions of the tire, the arrangement being similar to that disclosed in my Patent No. 2,313,035, granted March 9, 1943. Since the mechanisms on the two heads B and C are identical, except for certain details of the operating and control devices, the mechanism of the stationary head B is illustrated (completely) herein, while only enough of the head C is shown to make clear-the operative relationship.

The machine is mounted upon an elongated base I, upon which the head B and the drum A are mounted in fixed positions, and upon which the head C is slidably supported for movement axially. .toward' and away from the drum A. The actuating and control mechanism of the head B is mounted within a housing 2 having vertical inner and outer side alls. The drum A, which is composed of collapsible segments, is supported on a shaft 3 and a sleeve 4 on the shaft 3, the" segments of thedrum being connectedbysuitable links to the sleeve and shaft so as to be expanded or collapsed by relative rotary movements of the sleeve andshaft. Since this construction is conventional for tire building drums, the linkage is not herein illustrated. i

The supporting shaft 3 is mounted in bearings 5 and 6 in the inner and outer walls of the housing 2; and has interfitting engagement with an axially aligned shaft Ton the movable head IC. The shaft 3 is driven by an electric motors mounted on the base I, the shaft 3 being connected to the motor 8 through sprocket chains [Band I I and an interposed reduction gearing in a'housing 12, the "reduction gearing being driven by themotor' through the chain lU and the shaft 3 being driven from the reduction gearing throug-nthechain'll. lnorder to caus'erelative rotation of the shaft Sand sleeve 4 tocollapse the drum, an air-brake I3 is connected byfa sprocket chain [4 to the sleeve 4. Upon applica'- tion of the brake iii, the sleeve 4 isheld against rotation; whereupon continued rotation ofshaft 3 in one direction or'the other will expand br collapse the drum.

A transverse actuating shaft I5 is journaled in the side Walls of the housing 2, and this shaft has a worm wheel l5 attached thereto that meshes with a wd'rrfi ii on a longitudinal shaft l8 journaled in the inner and outer walls of the housing. The moving parts of the bead building head are actuated by the shaft l5, which is driven by an electric motor l9 through reduction gearing in a housing and a sprocket chain 2| extending to the shaft I8.

The moving parts of the bead building head 3 are actuated by the shaft l5 and it is desirable that the rotation of this shaft be stopped upon excessive resistance to movement of any of these parts. The shaft I8 is, therefore, driven througha slip clutch 22 interposed between the sprocket chain 2| and the shaft l5. The shaft I8 preferably projects through the outer wall of the housing 2 and has a squared end 23 adapted to r'eceive a hand crank by which the shaft may be tifi'hed manually to adjust the moving parts when d'. iired-.-

The bead rin'g' applying and bead forming in striii'neritalities of each of the bead building heads are annular members which engag with the batl ring and fabric throughout the circumfer= ence thereof. These annular members are coaxial with and surround the shaft 3 and are mounted for axial movements with respect'to the drum. An annulus 24 is carried by axially extending square bars 25 which, as best shown i i-Fig; 2' are slidably mounted in the housing -2 anadpqngumes 26 at the upper ends or posts 21, as shown in Fig; 1. Axial movements are imparted to the supporting bars 25 and thefian fiuliis 24 by means of connecting rods 28 that are pivotally connected to the bars 25 and to cranks 29 on the ends of a transverse shaft 30 mounted in the housing 2 above the shaft l5. The rods 28 are connectedto brackets 3| at tached to the tops of the bars 25 by bolts 32, the brackets 3| being provided with flanges 33 that p'rdject inwardly past the inner sides of the liars 25. was shown in Fig. 3; a bead ring supporting annulus 34 is mounted for movement within the annulus 24 and is provided along its inner edge with a i'abbeted bead ring seat 35. As shown in Fig. 2, supporting brackets 36 attached to the bead ring annulus 34 are slidable upon the bars 25 and carry rods 31 that extend along the inner sides of the bar 25 and slide in apertures in the flanges 33 of the brackets 3|. Coil springs 38 surrounding the rods 31 are interposed be tween the brackets 3| and 36 and normally cause the bead supporting annulus to travel with the annulus 24. However, when the inward movement of the bead supporting annulus is im-'- pedcd, the springs 38 will yield and. permit the annulus 24 to advance beyond the annulus 34. Inapplying the bead ring the inward movement of the'an-nulus 34 is stopped when the bead ring is pressed'against an inwardly projecting bead positioning flange 39 on the end of the drum and the bead ring is heldagainst the flange 39 with; an increasing pressure as the annulus -24 isadvancedover the end of the drum and the springs 33 are compressed. The annulus 24 car' ries a smoothing ring 40 in the form of an' endless-'coil spring; which is normally of a diam' eter less than that of the drum, but which is adapted, to be expanded to conform to the pe-' riphery of the drum, upon movement over the drum shoulder. The ring 40 is supported by a series of circumferentially spaced, radially disposed links 4| that are pivoted at their outer ends to the interior of the annulus 24 to swing axially. The ring 40 serves t press down portions of the fabric overlying the shoulder portion of the drum. The springs 38 are of considerable length so that the movement of the annulus 24 over the end of the drum does not cause an excessive pressure to be exerted upon the bead by the arm-mus 34.

By the method of the present invention the ends of a fabric band projecting past the ends of the drum are folded radially inwardly simultaneously throughout the circumference of the drum and the fabric folding device of the presentinvention is particularly designed to advantag'eously' cooperate with the bead applying mech- For folding the end edges of a band of fabric on the drum inwardly over the shoulders of the drum, each head is provided with a contractible endless coil spring folder ring 42 that is adapted to be expanded to a diameter greater than that of the drum, and to be placed over an end portion of a fabric band that projects beyond the end of the drum and then contracted to fold the fabric inwardly over the drum shoulder. The contractible endless coil spring ring 42 is carried by axially extending arms 43 that are rigidly attached to the outer ends of radial bars 44 that are slidably mounted in radially disposed dovetail slots 45 in the outer face of a disk 4 6 that is slidably mounted on the sleeve 4. Suitable means is provided for simultaneously imparting radial outward movements to the ring support- 7 ing arms 43 to expand the ring 42 to a diameter reater than that of the drum. This movement is accomplished by means of a series of identical toggles, each consisting of an inner radially disposed link 4! pivoted to the hub of the disk 46 and an outer radially disposed link 48 pivoted to the outer end of one of the arms 43; The. toggle links 47 and 48 are connected at their outer and inner ends, respectively, by pivots 49 and 50 to the inner ends of elongated axially extending actuating plates 5|, which are pivotally connected at their outer ends to a disk 52 that is mounted-to slide axially upon a sleeve 53 that slides on the sleeve 4. The movement of the disk 52 on the sleeve 53 is limited by a collar 54 on the outer end of the sleeve and by a flange 55 at the inner end of the sleeve. Movementmay be imparted to the disk 52 by engagement of the collar 54 or flange 55 therewith when the sleeve 53 is shifted axially on the sleeve 4; The disk 46 is moved toward and away from the end of the drum by means of axially extending rods 56 attached to the disk and extending through the inner and outer walls of the housing 2 and pivotally connected to crank arms 51; attached to a horizontal shaft 58 mounted in brackets=59 attached to the outer Wall of the housing'2; The sliding sleeve 53 is moved axially on the sleeve 4 by means of rods 60 attached to the collar 5t, extending axially through the mechanism housing 2 and pivotally connected to crank arms 6| attached to a sleeve 62, rotatably'mounted'on theshaft58. l .l The initial step in the building of a tire con sists in applying a band of fabric composed of-a plurality of pliesto the periphery of the drum. The fabric is applied to the drum in; the usual and conventional manner and the width *of-the fabric band so applied is greater thanthe length of the drum, so that the edges'of the band pro ject a substantial distance beyond each end of thedrum. {The projecting ends of'the fabric are then folded in against the ends of the drum by means of the contractible rings 42, after which the bead ring is pressed against the fabric overlying the flange 39 of the drum, and is held in place by the attachment of, a fabric flipper strip carried by the bead ring'to the fabric on the peripherypf the drum. v

jThe'shaft 58 and sleeve 52 are actuated at the proper time intervals by means of cams B3 and rotatably mounted on theshaft 30 through connectingrodsl lifi andBS, the cams 63 and 64 beingactuated from the shaft l5- through large Genevajgears 51 and 58 attached to the shaft I 5 and small Geneva gears 69 and 10 attached'to the cams.

Y As "fully described in .theparent application above referred to,'the device of thepresent application is associated with a; mechanism for folding. the fabric aboutthe beadring and almechanism for applying tread stock to atire carcass on the drurn as well as with the bead applying mechanism above referred to.j The mechanism for folding the fabric about a bead ring isindicated generally by the reference character G and the tread applying mechanism is indicated generally by the reference character H, The mechanism of the present invention is held in retracted contracted position shown in Fig. 1 during the operation of the fabric'folding mechanism G and tread applying mechanism H.

' The bead applying and fabric folding mechanisms are operateddn the proper timed relation by the shaft l 5 driven by the motor I 9 which is controlled by a starting switch 12 and a suitable limit" switch 13 which is engagedby suitable lugs 14 on a disk 15 attached to the shaft 15. The motor 8 is controlled to drive the drum A forwardly or rearwardly to facilitate application of the carcass fabric andtreadstock by means of su b e pe als han 11 at t from i the machina At the'stage in the cycle of operations shown in Fig 5, afabric band D consisting of a plurality ofplies of fabric has been applied to the periphery: 0f the drumA, the band i) being of a width to project a substantial distance beyond the; ends of the drum, and a bead ring E with an attached flipper strip F has been mounted upon the seat of the bead applying annulus 34. The disk 46 has been positioned between the annulus 34 and the end of the drum and the fabric folding ring 42 has been expanded from the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 to the position shown in full lines, the expansion of the ring 42 having beeneffected by movement of the sleeve 53 and disk 52 from the dotted line position to the full line position in Fig. 5.

After the ring 12 has been expanded as shown in Fig. 5, the disk 46 is moved inwardly toward the drum A by means of the rods 55, to the position shown in Fig. 6. The sleeve 53 is held stationary in the position shown in Fig. 5 during the inward movement of the disk 45, and the disk 52 slides inwardly on the sleeve 53 to a position adjacent the flange when the ring 42 is brought to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. The sleeve 53 is then moved outwardly to engage the flange 55 with the disk 52 and pull the links 41 and 48 of the toggle out of alignment so i that the tension of the spring ring 42 snaps the ring to its contracted position shown in full lines in Fig. 6, moving the arms 43 radially inwardly, swinging the links 4! and 48 outwardly, and moving the disk 52 outwardly toward the collar 54 v on the sleeve 53.- The ringj42 is thus causd to snap inwardly againstthe exterior of t'he edge portion of the fabric bandD, engaging the band simultaneously throughout the circumference thereof and folding the fabric inwardly over the end of the drum. It should be noted thatin folding the fabric over the end of the drum, the

engagement of the folding ring 42 with the fabrid is entirely beyond the end of the drum, so that there is no pressure exerted through thefabric against the drum shoulder. When the edge per: tion of a cylindrical band of fabric is forced inwardly to form an inwardly extending flange,

the fabric must wrinkle or shrink to compensate for the reduction in circumference. By engaging the fabric beyond the end of the drum simultaneously throughout its circumference within a uniformly contracting ring such as the ring 42,

stresses are set up in the fabric tending to crowd drum. The bead carrying annulus 34 moves with the annulus 2,4 untilthe bead ring E. is brought.

into engagement with the fabric overlying the flange 38 of the drum, whereupon thefmovement of the annulus 34 is stopped and the bead ring E is pressed against the fabric.- Continued movement of the annulus 24 compresses the spring 38 and applies increasing pressure to the'bea'd ring l As the ring 24. moves over the periphery of the drum, spring ring ii is dragged over a flipper strip F attached to the bead ringE and presses the same against the fabric band D lying onthe drum shoulder and upon the periphery of the drum adjacent the shoulder. After the flipper strip has been stitched down upon the fabricfthe annulus 24 is retracted and carries with it the bead applying annulus. 34 to theposition shown ihFig. 1. I l

In the retracted position the fabric folding mechanism of the present invention is spaced suffieiently from the end of the drum to permit actuation of the fabric folding mechanism G and being contracted to its smallest external diameter does not interfere with the tread applying mechanism H.

It is to be understood that variations and modi fications of the specific devices herein shown and described for purposes of illustration, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a tire building machine a tire building drum, a member coaxial with the drum and movable axially toward and away from an end of the drum, 9', series of radially movable bars carried by said member and spaced throughout the circumference thereof, an arm rigidly attached to each of said bars extending axially from the bar toward said drum, a spring ring carried by said arms at their free ends, means for simultaneously moving said bars radially outward to expand said ring, means for releasably retaining said bars in their expanded positions, and means for releasing said bars to permit them to be moved radially inwardly by said spring ring.

engaging the fabric flange 2., In atire building machine a tire building drum, a member coaxial with the drum and movable axially toward and away from an end of the drum, 3, series of radially movable bars carried bysaid member and spaced throughout the circumference thereof, an arm rigidly attached to each of said bars extending axially from the bar toward said drum, means for simultaneously moving said bars radially outwardly to position said arms beyond the drum periphery, means for moving said member axially to position the free ends of said arms adjacent but outwardly of the end of, the drum and means for simultaneously moving said bars radially inwardly to move the said arms inwardly past the periphery of the drum,

3.'In a tire building machine a tire building drum, a member coaxial with the drum and movable axially toward and away from an end of the drum, a series of radially movable bars carried by said member and spaced throughout the circumference thereof, an arm rigidly attached to each. of said bars extending axially from the bar'toward said drum, a spring ring carried by said arms at their free ends, radially disposed links pivoted at their outer ends to said bars, and an axially movable member connected to the inner ends of said links.

4; A tire building drum havinga supporting shaft, a disk slidable on said shaft toward and away from an end of the drum, radially disposed bars mounted for endwise sliding movement on said disk, arms rigidly attached to the outer ends of said radial bars and extending toward the drum, a spring ring attached to the free ends of said arms, toggles for actuating said bars each comprising an outer link pivoted at its outer end to a bar and an inner link pivoted at its inner end to said disk, an axially movable member connected to the adjoining ends of the toggle links, and means for axially moving said disk relatively to said member to move said bars radially and expand or contract the spring ring. 5 A tire building drum having a supporting shaft, 2, disk slidable on said shaft toward and away from an end of the drum, radially disposed bars mounted for endwise sliding movement on said disk, arms rigidly attached to the outer ends of said radial bars and extending toward the drum, a spring ring attached to the free ends or said arms, toggles for actuating said bars each comprising an outer link pivoted at its outer end to a bar and an inner link pivoted at its inner end to said disk, said toggles being movable to folding position adjacent said disk, a sleeve'slidable on the shaft outwardly of said disk, an annular member slidable on said sleeve, means for limiting the movement of said annular member on said sleeve, members pivoted to said annular member and to the adjoining ends of said toggle links, and means for independently moving said disk, sleeve and annular member axially, to expand said ring, to retain. the ring in expanded position and to release the ring to permit it to contract.

6. A tire building machine comprising a tire building drum adapted to receive a band of fabric, an elastic expansible fabric folding ring, means for expanding said ring ,toa diameter greater than that of the drum and for releas'ably' holding the same in expanded position, means for moving said ring axially to place the same in a position beyond an end of the drum and surrounding a portion of a fabric band on the 'drum that projects beyond the end of the drum, and means operable when said ring is so positioned for releasing the ring to permit it to snap to a smaller diameter and to strikethe fabric'band throughout the circumference thereof and to fold the same radially inwardly to form an inwardly projecting flange at the end of the drum.

WALTER J. BRETH. I

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

6. A TIRE BUILDING MACHINE COMPRISING A TIRE BUILDING DRUM ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A BAND OF FABRIC, AN ELASTIC EXPANSIBLE FABRIC FOLDING RING, MEANS FOR EXPANDING SAID RING TO A DIAMETER GREATER THAN THAT OF THE DRUM AND FROM RELEASABLY HOLDING THE SAME IN EXPANDED POSITION, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID RING AXIALLY TO PLACE THE SAME IN A POSITION BEYOND AN END OF THE DRUM AND SURROUNDING A PORTION OF A FABRIC BAND ON THE DRUM THAT PROJECTS BEYOND THE END OF THE DRUM, AND MEANS OPERABLE WHEN SAID RING IS SO POSITIONED FOR RELEASING THE RING TO PERMIT IT TO SNAP TO A SMALLER DIAMETER AND TO STRIKE THE FABRIC BAND THROUGHOUT THE CIRCUMFERENCE THEREOF AND TO FOLD THE SAME RADIALLY INWARDLY TO FORM AN INWARDLY PROJECTING FLANGE AT THE END OF THE DRUM. 